The Illinois basketball world was shocked to hear news of the injury David Mirkovic sustained during summer workouts. It was announced on the official Illinois basketball social media that Mirkovic suffered a foot injury and underwent successful surgery on July 31 in Indianapolis.
The key part of the announcement was that Mirkovic is expected to make a full recovery. There was no timeline initially given. However, later, Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68 provided an update that Mirkovic's recovery timeline is projected to be around 6 to 8 weeks, according to his sources.
On top of that, Mirkovic helped calm any other worries by taking to his own social media, sharing the injury update from Illinois with the caption, 'Will be back soon."
#illini forward David Mirkovic takes to his Instagram (@ davidmirk0vic) to share an update on his status:
— Cooper O'Kelly (@cooperokelly) August 4, 2026
“Will be back soon 🧡” pic.twitter.com/gpA3WO2Gsi
David Mirkovic's injury may not even affect the start of his second season at Illinois
Mirkovic is one of the most exciting players returning for Illinois this season. After a freshman season in which he averaged 13.3 points per game, led the team with eight rebounds per game, and added 2.6 assists, fans were excited for his sophomore campaign.
Mirkovic's return to Illinois was huge news, and not only did he come back, but he chose to stay in Champaign for summer workouts instead of playing for the Montenegro National Team. While the injury he suffered was during summer workouts, that is an entire summer he has worked to get stronger and better for his team.
If Goodman's report is correct and Mirkovic's timeline is roughly out for 6 to 8 weeks, that would put him back on the court around a month before the college basketball season begins. That even gives him some wiggle room if there is some sort of setback that keeps him down a little longer than expected.
It is tough to come back from a foot injury and be 100% for the season, but Mirkovic has shown before that he can perform with injury struggles. Before Illinois took on Purdue in the regular season, Mirkovic rolled his ankle pretty badly, but decided to play on it anyway, pushing through to score 12 points and grab eight rebounds in just 28 minutes on the court.
It may not be an easy recovery, but if he isn't ready to go by the first game on November 2 when the Illini take on Fairleigh Dickinson, it isn't the end of the world. The second game of the season is against Penn, the team Illinois beat handily in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season. There are some buffer games there for Mirkovic to take his time getting as close to 100% as possible.
Mirkovic seems to be in high spirits based on his social media post, so there isn't a huge need to worry right now. The star sophomore will be back on the court in no time, helping Illinois get back to the Final Four next season.
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